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This Saturday, we stayed in our beautiful city of Denver and lucked out with blue skies, as the GLC (Greenway Leadership Corps) learned to snowboard and ski on Denver’s own Ruby Hill Rail Yard. Ruby Hill is a free public park that has groomed hills and a terrain park for skiing, snowboarding, and sledding, located near the South Platte River in SE Denver.
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Winter in the National Park can be worlds different from down in Denver, which is why National Park Ranger Collette and National Park Ranger Haley made sure we were ready for the backcountry. At Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, we did a thorough gear check to make sure we were properly attired for the cold and windy weather. Then, we discussed the SCREW factors, which we learned were different elements that can make or break your backcountry experience. The SCREW factors are Snow, Cold, solar Radiation, Energy and Wind.
We were then ready to snowshoe the trails Cub Lake. During our beautiful hike, we stopped to talk about the “10 essentials for survival” kit and participate in a game which involved running in snowshoes against the other team to capture as many essentials as possible. Turns out running in snowshoes is just as difficult as it sounds.
At another stop, we learned about the importance of locator beacons in the backcountry and how to use them.
Then, with the beautiful RMNP as a backdrop, we heard about the career paths of our two Ranger guides. Both rangers had very intricate and fascinating stories which led them to be environmental educators in the park.
Afterward, we headed back to the visitor center for some much-needed food, and along the way spotted a coyote along the road and two golden eagles!
To say the least, we were very impressed with our National Park. Thanks again so much to the education team at Rocky Mountain – we had a wonderful time and can’t wait to go back!
